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We’ve been asked for obituary details to be used for many publications and websites. GoFundMe information will follow yet today to help offset medical costs not covered by mom’s Medicare B and to organize a celebration of life concert in August.

FORD-MCCULLOUGH, Cheryl Jeanne (Morarie) –

Cher Ford-McCullough age 66, died Friday, June 1st, 2018 at her Hopkinton, IA home following a brief battle with lung/liver cancer.

It was always said that Cher was born an adult. Her mother once said she wasn’t raised… she was snatched up by the hair of the head. She had responsibility placed on her literally at birth. She helped to raise her four siblings and at the age of 21 and 25 raised two beautiful daughters.

As a single mother she worked hard as a waitress and bartender to provide for her kids. Cher might not have been able to afford a big fancy house or nice vacations, but she gave her children unforgettable experiences through her music. Cher was a singer in many bands and found her most success from 1980-1984 when singing for the band Crossbow in Oklahoma City, OK. “Us kids” were drug to many performances, would sleep in “green rooms” while she was on stage and even had an opportunity to perform ourselves a time or two. I, Shawna, can personally attest to a standing ovation from a bar full of people after singing ‘Cat Scratch Fever” at the age of five. Her love for music continued right to the end – she was constantly writing new songs and knew every song that came on the car radio. She was particularly taken in the last year with the song ‘Sign of the Times’ by Harry Styles.

Growing up poor, Cher knew what it was like to get bullied for circumstances out of her control. Because of that experience she learned to stand up for herself and others. She wasn’t afraid to stick up for her siblings when they got picked on as kids and this fearlessness continued in to her adulthood when she protested alongside Jesse Jackson after the 2003 Goose Creek raid in South Carolina where police held guns at children’s head in the hallways upon responding to a drug activity call.

In the last 20 years of her life she made it her life goal to make a difference and give a voice to those who didn’t have one. She was the founder and president of the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform, Kentucky State Director for the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis, president of Compassionate Moms, a member of the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center, is listed as one of Skunk Magazines top influential women of the cannabis world, funded the Million Marijuana Marches in Paducah, spoke at the Seattle Hemp Feast and 2003 Global Million Marijuana March, participated in the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC, Florida Journey for Justice, Ohio Journey for Justice, Texas Journey for Justice, and worked with long-time marijuana activist and occasional political candidate Gatewood Galbraith since 1999. Her name is listed on the Wall of Tolerance in the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, AL, and she actively worked on drug policy and prison reform.

She was preceded in death by her father William Morarie, mother Thelma Healan, a son Robbie who was born prematurely and many beloved pets, some of her most favorite being Katie the raccoon, Woody the squirrel and the many, many ducks and geese that frequented her lake house in Gilbertsville, KY.

A ‘Celebration of Life’ will be held in August, in lieu of a service, that will involve live music, stories being shared and laughter. Details to come via her Facebook profile.

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“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.” -- Frank Zappa